GALWAY’S Conor Cooney wed his partner Maria on December 30 – with Footballer of the Year Paul Conroy among the guestlist.
The hurling ace’s club St Thomas’ shared the news whilst posting a presumably older photo of them together (as she wasn’t wearing a white dress).
It was captioned: “Best wishes to Conor Cooney and Maria Walsh on their wedding day today. We wish ye a lifetime of health and happiness.”
Since then Conroy shared a photo of himself and wife Caroline dolled up to celebrate the nuptials.
While he and his fellow footballers ultimately wound up again being the bridesmaids as they had done in 2022, the St James’ man did at least receive the consolation of being crowned FOTY in November.
Speaking at the All-Stars bash, the 35-year-old outlined how he produced the best football of his career despite being one of the panel’s elder statesmen.
He said: “To make the gains, first of all you’ve to be fully committed physically and mentally.
“I think maybe that takes a while for some players, I’m not sure. Once you do, and put the effort in, you start seeing the rewards.
“I think when you’re 18 going in, you’re just kinda on a high.
“You don’t look at things the way you might when you’re a bit older. I think when you’re young like that, you’re very carefree.
“Then, maybe as you get on in years the pressure might come on a bit. We struggled a lot of years with Galway in terms of our form. Things weren’t going overly well.
“I suppose, I’m glad, and look back fondly on sticking it out through a lot of tough years. You always feel that you will turn the corner, and you are building.
“There was a lot of underage success, things like that. It probably took me a bit longer than I expected to get an All-Star, but look it is great to get one, and Footballer of the Year too is something very special.
“We’re very lucky that we’ve such a strong team at the moment, your team mates get you this far really.
“A couple of individuals are picked from that team performance.
“Thankfully, at the moment we’ve five All-Stars, and maybe five two years ago.
“It is nice to see those individual accolades, it gives everyone else on the panel a lift too. It gives everyone a boost of confidence.”
Galway’s wheels are already in motion for 2025 as Padraic Joyce committed for more two more seasons in charge amid a backroom team shakeup.
Cian O’Neill has departed to join Kerry as coach, while former Cavan boss and outgoing Leitrim manager Mickey Graham has joined the fold along with Corofin’s David Morris.
Graham’s appointment raised eyebrows when he vacated the Leitrim job in October before joining Galway.
Conroy hailed O’Neill’s influence in the camp, but is looking forward to working with his new coaches next year.